Tutorials and the Significant Role of the TA's

It is unfortunate that many TA's are so busy with their research and course work that they often have minimal time to devote to tutorial preparation, whether in the material to be covered or teaching methods. A study by Koenig et al (2007) found that student performance gain in learning drastically improved in tutorials where students work in groups with TA's interaction using Socratic dialogue over tutorials where they work alone, or where they learn in a traditional lecture setting, or even in groups by themselves without other inputs from TA's. Student satisfaction of tutorials is clearly linked to the teaching performance of the TA's.

Interestingly though, when students were asked which style of tutorial did they prefer, more students indicate a traditional lecture style than Socratic group discussion with a TA, even though it is less effective. Perhaps the latter style moves the students out of their comfort zone a tad more than what they are used to and may seem to demand more work from them? In any case, this latter style seems to be more successful in moving students away from their initial misconceptions in the tutorials.

In order to implement such learning / teaching style in the tutorials, TA's will require weekly training to prepare for the tutorials. They have to work through the material and they need guidance on how to use Socratic dialogue with each tutorial topic.

Reference:

Koenig, K., Endorf, R., Braun, G. (15 May 2007). Effectiveness of Different Tutorial Recitation Teaching Methods and Its Implications for TA Training. The American Physical Society. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research. 3, 010104-1 to 010104-9.